I fished today with my pal Ray Bartlett and we had some fun being together again doing our thing. I had a huge strike and set up on it and low and behold a huge sheepshead came to the net. 11.2 pound beauty that we released to fight again. Great day of fishing with a great old pal of mine. biggest sheepshead I ever caught even in Florida.

I was taking care of may ailing parents in Naples Florida after retiring from teaching in 2000. I would go down there and stay with them through the tough winter when they were ailing and help them as much as I could. Doctors appointments, hospital visits, home care, make them meals, go shopping etc, but all that took place in the afternoon after I went fishing in the morning and what a time it was. Me, Wes Little, Congressman Bob Rommel, Craig, and a bunch of friends got on a hot bite of huge permit and tarpon off Cape Romano and Gullivan Bay. Every day we would sight fish huge permit form 20 to 45 pounds and tarpon to 150 pounds like clockwork. we were fishing small blueclaw crab baits hooked through the point of the shell with w 2/0 Gamakatsu hook and throw it with a medium weight spin rod about ten feet in front of the moving school. It would sink to about three feet by the time the fish met it and we would see one turn and engulf it and the strike it and hold on. 40 pound fish in 5 feet of water really run hard! It was awesome fishing. At eleven am the big tarpon would head north along the shore of Gullivan Bay and we would run there and fish that with pilchards or crabs. Run and gun was the way to get it done. It was probably the best Florida fishing I have ever had and just wanted to share it with you. All fish were released in great shape to fight another day.